Team Falcons become surprise champions at The International 2025

15 September 2025

The month of September got off to an exciting start for international esports fans around the world, as The International 2025 took place from September 4th to September 14th in Germany. At the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, to be exact, where the world’s best Dota 2 teams competed for a share of the $ 2,7 million prize pool. After a tough Group Stage, in which they finished seventh, it was Saudi Arabia-based organization Team Falcons who clinched the title and crowned themselves the new Dota 2 world champions.

Initial struggles

With organizations like Team Liquid and Team Spirit present, Team Falcons was not amongst the favorites for the title, at least not at the start of the tournament. The Saudi Arabia-based team, consisting of Oliver “skiter” Lepko from Slovakia, Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak from Russia, Andreas “Cr1t-“Nielsen from Denmark, Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun from the United States and Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf from Jordan, failed to find consistency during the Group Stage. Despite victories against Team Liquid, Team Nemesis and Tundra Esports, they also lost against Team Tidebound and Xtreme Gaming.

It was enough for Team Falcons to advance to the Elimination Round though, where they had to face Team Spirit. Against all odds, they managed to overcome the Russian organization, but the victory did not come easy. Game 1 took no less than 76:55 minutes, while Game 2 went on for 45:42 minutes, both ending in favor of the Saudi organization.

Team Falcons on a roll

The impressive victory over Team Spirit seemingly lit a fire inside Team Falcons, because they were on a roll from that encounter onwards. The progressed to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, where Team Tidebound was the opponent once again. It was not going to be a repeat of their Group Stage match though, which finished 1-2 in favor of the Chinese organization. In the Playoffs, it was Team Falcons’ turn as they made relatively quick work of Team Tidebound: 0-2, 47:05 minutes for Game 1 and 44:40 minutes for Game 2.

Next up were the Russians of BB Team, who had surprised with a second place in the Group Stage and who had just eliminated Nigma Galaxy in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. It turned out to be a tight affair which went on from three games, eventually finishing 2-1 for the Saudi Arabian organization. They then booked the same result in the Upper Bracket Final against Serbian organization PVISION, which included a 65:39-minute nailbiter in Game 3.

Grand Final vs. Xtreme Gaming

Thanks to Xtreme Gaming’s impressive Playoff streak, not losing a single Game all the way up to the Lower Bracket Final (in which they beat PVISION 1-2), Team Falcons once again faced a Chinese opponent. Both teams gave it all they got, taking the Grand Final’s best-of-5 format to the maximum. Xtreme started off strong, winning Game 1, before Team Falcons equalized in Game 2. Xtreme Gaming then once again took the lead by winning Game 3, but it was Team Falcons who ended up having the upper hand, winning the final two games. This earned the Saudi Arabian team $ 1.154.095 in prize money, while runners-up Xtreme Gaming took home $ 353.067.